Steelers sign Antonio, tag Le'Veon



… but about ordering those Super Bowl tickets 

The Steelers signed Antonio Brown to a 5-year contract on Monday, making him the highest paid receiver in the NFL for the time being.

They also placed a franchise tag on running back Le'Veon Bell, raising his salary from $1 million to about $12 million in one fell swoop. While that guarantees that Bell will play for the Steelers next year, it does not guarantee that he will not explore free agency in the interim.

General Manager Kevin Colbert said that signing Bell long-term would be a priority, but there has been no response yet from Bell.

The Post-Gazette reported that Brown's contract would be for $72.7 million over five years, more that $14 mill per season.

Brown is now 28 and has demonstrated that a sixth-round pick can excel in the league. He has caught 632 passes for 8,377 yards and 50 touchdowns in his seven years. He has 8,496 yards from scrimmage.

Bell has carried the ball 908 times for 4,045 yards and 26 touchdowns. However, he has real value in that he is a good receiver out of the backfield, pulling in 227 passes for 2,005 yards and five touchdowns. He has 6,050 yards from scrimmage.

Provisos

However, if you are in a rush to order your Super Bowl tickets, I have two words of caution for you: Tom Brady. As long as Brady is in the AFC, the Steelers will never make another Super Bowl.

Brady demonstrated in January that he can simply carve out an easy win over the Steelers while also demonstrating that Ben Roethlisberger is not in his class.

So, that is the first concern.

2017

The Steelers have some hurdles to overcome this year despite this "Tsunami" of an offense that has yet to reach the Super Bowl.

First, they will have a much tougher schedule. The 2016 schedule was one of the weakest in the league. The final one has not yet been released. They will have to stop Tom Brady again, along with Aaron Rodgers, Matt Stafford, and Andrew Luck. They could also face Tony Romo (Houston?), but that is conjecture right now.

Remember also that the Steelers almost missed the playoffs. Without Antonio Brown's reaching out over the goal line on what would have been the final play of the game against the Ravens, they would have lost the AFC North and would not have made the playoffs.

This was not a very consistent football team.

Discipline

What the Brown signing makes a joke of is Mike Tomlin. The coach said that there would be "consequences" for his Facebook Live farce before the AFC championship game.

What consequences? Makes him the highest paid receiver in the NFL. Antonio must be devastated with that punishment.

Second, both Bell and Brown have character issues. Bell has missed 17 games over four years, with two seasons of those for drug violations, which are the real concern, and some for injuries. He has also missed a number of playoff games, including most of the AFC championship game this year. While missed games are not strictly character issues, they do reflect on his stability and reliability.

Brown has just been a jerk at times, not the quality player that the Steelers used to feature.

In fact, there really are no real role models on this team, perhaps other than their left tackle, Alehandro Villanueva, who is a West Point grad and Afghanistan War Vet.

So, I do not see them winning 11 games next year, though they should make the playoffs.

As for Super Bowl tickets, keep the credit card in the wallet.

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